A single point ended up separating the Skaneateles girls tennis team from a trip to the championship round of the Section III Class C tournament.
The no. 3 seed Lakers went north for Wednesday’s sectional semifinal against no. 2 seed Beaver River, and just like the previous round against Manlius-Pebble Hill, it was close, but now Skaneateles was on the wrong end of it, falling to the Beavers 3-2.
To get here, the Lakers had to climb past Manlius-Pebble Hill 4-3 in the sectional quarterfinals at Austin Park on Sept. 30. But now Skaneateles had to travel a long way to get to Beaver River, and once there, fewer points were at stake against the Frontier League B division champions.
Erica Byrne still won in first singles, recording a 6-4, 6-3 sweep over Jessie Landis. Also, in first doubles, Mary McNeil and Angela Krause prevailed, going three sets to defeat Lesley Aucter and Dana Halladay 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
The Beavers countered in doubles with Elaine Roberts and Jennifer McBain handing the Lakers’ duo of Hope Allyn and Lily Datz a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 defeat. And Beaver River won the other two singles matches when Tabitha Tabolt got past Rachel Feeney 7-5, 6-2 and Samantha Widrick topped Alex Ditch 6-4, 6-0.
Beaver River went on to face Westmoreland in the finals, while Skaneateles completed a 10-3 season where it won the Onondaga High School League Liberty National division regular-season title.
